Niel Roeterink

Niel Roeterink (23 January 1618-4 May 1670), also called "El Diablo Vasco", was a Dutch buccaneer who was famous for his attack on 23 April 1654, when he captured two Portuguese galleons off Madagascar in the Battle of Ambovombe-Androy through deception. Roeterink used false colours to win many other battles as well, and by the end of his career had earned a present-day total of $5 million in US dollars. He was killed by the Dutch in 1670 after he quit his privateering service to become a pirate.

Biography
Roeterink was born in Groningen in the United Provinces, and took to the sea as one of the "Watergeuzen" (Sea Beggars) in 1639 during the Eighty Years' War. Roeterink became the captain of the pirate fluyt "Windward" in 1642 and preyed on Spanish shipping off the Azores. In 1643 he captured two Spanish galleons off the coast of Pais Vasco, and burnt down the city of Oviedo in Asturias in December of that year. His actions earned him the nickname "El Diablo Vasco" ("the Basque Devil") by the Spanish authorities, who at one point sent a man-of-war to capture him. He eluded them every time, and continued to fight against the Spanish until the end of the war in 1648.

Afterwards, Roeterink became a privateer of the United Provinces, who became fully-independent in the aftermath of their war of independence against Spain. Roeterink was given not only the fluyt "Windward", but also the caravels "Discovery" and "Holland". He was given letters of marque by Willem II of Orange, the Stadtholder of the United Provinces, legalizing his piracy. However, he was told to attack Portuguese shipping instead.

In the years 1648-1654, he plundered Portuguese shipping around the world. He captured the galleon "Nina" off the coast of Mozambique in 1649 after a short boarding fight, and he sunk three Portuguese ships off the coast of Angola. Don Luis Inacio de Algarve attacked Roeterink's "Windward" on the Ivory Coast in 1653, sinking her. Roeterink proceeded to get revenge by capturing Algarve's man-of-war "Principe de Galicia" and killing the admiral.

Roeterink gained fame for capturing two Portuguese galleons off Madagascar in 1654 in the Battle of Ambovobe-Androy, where he used false colors to bypass the powerful ships to capture the treasure-loaded ones. This was his last battle in the war, as soon after peace was made between the Dutch and Portugal.

From 1654 to 1670 he continued piracy, looting Spanish and Portuguese ships after burning his letters of marque. The Dutch stadtholder Willem III of Orange dispatched a man-of-war called "Bernice" to attack him, and in 1670 he engaged in battle off New York City in the Thirteen Colonies (present-day United States). Roeterink's ship "Principe de Galicia" holed "Bernice" and her escort "Groningen", but "Bernice" attacked Roeterink's crew with grapeshot. Roeterink's left arm was torn off and he died from wounds.